It hurts an artist to be in a whirl! (6)
I believe the answer is:
sprain
'it hurts' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'artist to be in a whirl' is the wordplay.
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'to be in' indicates putting letters inside.
'a whirl' becomes 'spin' (spin is a kind of whirl).
'ra' going into 'spin' is 'SPRAIN'.
'an' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sprain that I've seen before include "Wrench (a ligament) (P, not T)" , "Twist ligament(s)" , "Wrench a joint" , "Wrench; in rasp (anag.)" , "Injury to ligaments" .)